Celiac disease, also known as gluten intolerance, is an autoimmune disorder in which people react to gluten, a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat, oats, and barley.

For those with celiac disease, eating gluten will cause damage to the lining of the small intestine to the point where the body will not be able to absorb the nutrients it needs. The only known solution for celiac disease is maintaining a gluten-free diet so that the small intestine can heal.

And that is why celiac is a "great" and "valuable" disease, as it alerts people to the fact that certain diseases can be ameliorated or even cured by lifestyle and diet changes.

For the first time, there is no drug, no external cure. The cure for celiac has to come from within, through discipline and conscious eating.

Now, just think about that thought process from a doctor’s point of view. For a doctor to have to tell patients that the only solution to their disease is a dietary shift, to what degree does that interaction open the door toward awareness of integrative or functional approaches to health?

Given that the huge health epidemics we face are all somewhat diet-related (such as obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, etc.), what will celiac’s true long term value be?

James Maskell is Founder and CEO of Revive Primary Care, a business that makes it easy to attain and maintain health by combining a nationwide team of functional and integrative practitioners with a scalable, digital, education platform. Keep up to date with this exciting project by signing up for the…